Data collection systems have been available in the past for use in conjunction with panels of human respondents. Some of the uses for such systems are to test consumer response to a new or existing product, or to sample the buying habits of the panel of respondents. The respondents can be asked questions verbally, with or without the assistance of visual aids, or they can be asked to read through a booklet which directs the respondents through a series of questions to be answered.
The respondents can be given pieces of paper to write answers to the questions being asked of them, or they can be provided with some type of electronic device which they use to record their answers electrically. Electronic systems presently available are capable of receiving the respondents' answers and storing those answers in real time into a computer system. Such electronic systems are also capable of displaying those answers in real time on a video monitor. The video monitor can show the numbers of like answers in a bar chart format, for example, and/or can show the raw data (in numerical form). One such system presently available is known by the name AcuPOLL.TM., manufactured by AcuPOLL Research, Inc., and is used by market survey companies.
The presently available AcuPOLL.TM. electronic data collection system uses enclosures which contain several numerical keys (such as "0" through "10") for the individual respondents to use in answering questions. Such keypad enclosures are "dumb" devices in that they do not present information to the user of the keypad (the respondent, or other person who may be testing or setting up the system). Such keypads may have a light or two that provides some information. However, even with that light, the units are still not "intelligent" devices, providing only minimal information. In addition, each of these dumb keypads can only sense, and then transmit to a remote location, a single keystroke (0 through 10, inclusive) of information that represents the answer for any particular question.
The heart of a data collection system, such as AcuPOLLT.TM., is a main computer which stores data received from the individual keypads. Since several keypads (up to at least one hundred units) can be used in a single data collection system, each individual keypad must have some type of identification means so that the main computer can determine which individual keypad is transmitting information at any given moment. With such means, the main computer can keep track of what answers are being given by which respondent, thereby enabling the data collection system to categorize the answers by type of respondent (male or female, for example). Since the keypads of the AcuPOLL.TM. system are "dumb" devices, they cannot be programmed to change their operating characteristics, and they also must have their identification means "hard" coded. In other words, each of the AcuPOLL.TM. keypads must have some type of identification means in hardware (rather than in software or firmware). Such identification means could be a programmable switch (such as a seven-position DIP-switch) within each keypad, or it could be merely by the use of connecting the correct wires from the main computer into the respective keypads (and being truly "hard"-coded).
Consequently, the data collection systems which are available at the present time must be set up by a rather regimented routine so that the correct keypads (having the correct identification number) are placed at their proper locations. Each keypad must be either attached to the correct wiring, or each keypad must have its identification switch (if one exists) set to the correct number. All this must be accomplished while the set-up procedure takes place, in view of the fact that the physical location of each keypad (according to its identification number) is usually very important to the overall survey results. Such procedures can be very time consuming when setting up a new testing room.
Data collection systems available at the present time also are limited in that the keypads cannot be used to send information to the person located at the keypads. With more sophisticated test sampling occurring in the future, it would be desirable to be able to communicate information from the main computer to each of the respondents who are using those keypads. Such messages could inform a respondent that the last answer given was not within the correct range of acceptable numbers, for example, for questions asking for only certain numbers as answers.
Presently available data collection systems are not capable of accepting several keystrokes from the keypads as answers to questions. In such systems, the respondents are restricted to using only one keystroke per answer, thereby allowing for only a range of zero (0) through ten (10), inclusive. A data collection system having "smart" keypads, which have more capabilities are required for such increased capabilities.